0642 : Six And A Half Miles (17/2/19)

Despite Saturday's lack of success in finding Snow Buntings at Out Head, St Andrews I resisted the mild temptation to try again on Sunday. The weather didn't look promising enough to risk a trip to Letham Pools for Greenland White Fronted Goose and Kinnordy was also likely to result in me getting wet for little to no return. Buses only running every 2 hours was also another reason not to bother with either. I didn't want to sit in all day so I decided to retrace the route I did twice over the winter when I walked from home to Balmossie via Swannie Ponds, Eastern Cemetery and Stannergate to Broughty Ferry along the river. With a little bit of luck I might find a less common gull along the way.

Mistle Thrush

It was around 1245 when I headed out to a very threateningly dark sky overhead. I was hoping that the rather strong winds would keep any showers brief but I wasn't optimistic despite the forecast saying it should be dry all afternoon. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Starling and Carrion Crow were all seen within a short distance of leaving the house. Blue Tit was added as I crossed Forfar Road with a pair flying into the tree above me. With the local radio controlled boat club using the lower pond of the two at Swannie Ponds, the birds were all at the top pond. Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Coot and Mute Swan were all noted in addition to Herring Gull, Common Gull and Black Headed Gull.

The Coots and Mute Swans were being very territorial with lots of chasing going on. A single white ringed Black Headed Gull was seen distantly before all the birds were flushed from the path by a dog walker. I headed next to a very quiet Eastern Cemetery missing out on hidden House Sparrows on the way. A few Woodpigeons and a solitary Blackbird were all I saw in the graveyard until I was nearing the exit when a lot of noise alerted me to a Buzzard being mobbed by a few gulls and a few Carrion Crows. Things weren't looking overly promising for a decent length of list. I did manage to add a skein of Pink Footed Geese and a pair of Oystercatchers as well as a small flock of Starlings before I reached the Stannergate.

More Carrion Crows were in the fenced off area at the eastern end of the docks. Out on the Tay I picked out around 7 or 8 Red Breasted Mergansers rather distantly bobbing around among the waves. A small flock of House Sparrows were seen much further on near the footbridge over the railway near Douglas Terrace. Offshore a Cormorant and a female Eider were seen. A pair of Siskins flew over heading west. I stopped to photograph a Carrion Crow which was trying to gain access to the remaining contents of a plastic lidded MacDonalds coffee cup near the lifeboat station. A few Turnstones and Redshanks were roosting on the lifeboat jetty until the lifeboat was called out resulting in an exodus of the birds towards the next jetty where they joined a flock of gulls (mostly Black Headeds) and Oystercatchers.

I managed to get some decent photos of the Turnstones feeding on the latter jetty, including 1 of the birds which seemed to find something nutritious in some gull droppings! Given that Turnstones have even been reported eating a human corpse I suppose they must have strong stomachs, or no tatsbuds. A Rock Pipit dropped in briefly before I moved on again. A Pied Wagtail was seen near the Castle and a drake Eider was hauled out on the small rocky island just off the harbour wall. A young Great Black Backed Gull drifted over further along the Esplanade and the usual House Sparrow flock were in their usual bush behind the dunes.

I wandered into the small local nature reersve which gave some respite from the strong winds. Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch were all added along with Coal Tit andd Goldcrest. A Song Thrush flew up into a tree and a party of Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits were seen near the footbridge over the railway line. A Stock Dove flew past and on my way out of the reserve a nice male Bullfinch was spotted feeding quietly near the railway line. I crossed the road and headed down to check the beach. There were a number of gulls dotted around on the mud as well as a single Curlew.

A pair of Mistle Thrushes gave me some nice photo opportunities along the fence-line and a Song Thrush flew up from among the longer grass and headed over towards the Rock Garden. A pair of Wigeon were seen just offshore and I was able to add Dunlin to the list as I wandered along towards the mouth of the Dighty Burn. There was a large gull roost already in place but despite scanning through the flock I failed to find anything noteworthy. A pair of Goldeneye and a Bar Tailed Godwit were as interesting as I managed to find before I packed up and headed for the bus just after 1600. Jackdaw was a final aaddition seen from the bus taking the total for the day to 44 species.

Once again, not a classic day in any sense but once again I managed some pretty decent photo opportunities with relatively common species. I had decided to travel light so was using the Sigma 50-500mm lens which is lighter and fits in a smaller bag. Surprisingly I also managed to stay dry as the weather forecast proved to be correct despite the early threat of impending rain.

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Black Headed Gull

Oystercatcher, Turnstone & Black Headed Gull

Oystercatcher

Black Headed Gull

Rock Pipit

Oystercatcher, Redshank & Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Black Headed Gull

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Bullfinch

Bullfinch

Mistle Thrush

Common Gull

Common Gull

Mistle Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Great Black Backed Gull

Mistle Thrush

Herring Gull

Bar Tailed Godwit

Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.

0641 : St Andrews Saturday (16/2/19)

With no plans in place for the weekend, Jacqui's offer on Friday morning of heading somewhere on Saturday was rather welcome. Scone Palace was chosen for the possibilities of Hawfinch and Nuthatch. Unfortunately, Jacqui had to cancel when her dog became unwell on Friday evening. With time off work coming up quite soon I decided not to head for Scone Palace. Instead I decided that I would try for the Snow Bunting(s) at Out Head, St Andrews. The likeliest flaw to this plan however was the amount of walkers on the beach at the weekend. I had intended on an early start to get around this but slept a bit too long.

Rook

I headed out at around 1030. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon unsurprisingly started off the list for the day with a Magpie next and a Carrion Crow on Dens Road. Near the bus station I heard Long Tailed Tits and stopped to try to see them. I was successful and thankfully still made it in time to catch the bus. Black Headed Gull, Jackdaw, Rook, Woodpigeon and Blackbird were all seen in Leuchars village with a single Grey Partridge spotted in the field east of the road and opposite the railway station. A drake Teal was seen as we crossed the Motray and a large flock of Lapwings flew upriver as we crossed the Eden at the southern end of Guardbridge. A couple of Oystercatchers were in a field at the farm and a Curlew was added a few fields further on.

As I was about to get off the bus in St Andrews I spotted a Kestrel hovering over the edge of the golf course. I headed for the roof of the golf museum to scan out over the bay. Fulmars were active on the cliffs and a Pied Wagtail landed down on the beach. There weren't too many birds out in the bay though the majority of these not unexpectedly were Common Scoters. I soon managed to find the 2 Surf Scoter drakes and as they appeared to be the closest birds to the largest rocks I headed down for a closer look. When I got to the largest rocks I couldn't find the birds which was a bit frustrating. Eider and Long Tailed Duck were added as was a Rock Pipit. Turnstone and Great Black Backed Gull were noted before I again managed to find the Surf Scoters with a small group of Common Scoters.

I managed to get some relatively decent photos and a lengthy video clip. Behind me a small group of students were jumping off the cliffs by the restaurant into the water and their shouts can be heard on the video. https://youtu.be/-JRbqypmO_U  (At 1:04 in the video you can see that one of the Surf Scoters is displaying to a female Common Scoter). After about 30 minutes I decided to continue out to Out Head. A flock of Starlings were seen on the long walk out and at the 2 fenced paddocks where the sheep are I could hear a Skylark singing. It sounded close by and I realised that it was just a few feet the other side of the fence. I was able to get some nice photos before moving on again.

A pair of Stonechats were seen as well as another few Skylarks before I detoured down towards the beach. A male Reed Bunting flew up from in the dunes as I passed through. Not unexpectedly there was no sign of the Snow Bunting on the beach. Heading round the tip of the dunes I spotted a drake Red Breasted Merganser offshore. A single Linnet flew up ahead of me. I sat on the edge of the dunes to see what else I could find. A small flock of Linnets appeared and I found a couple of Ringed Plovers roosting down by the water. A Cormorant fished just offshore. Further out a pair of drake Long Tailed Ducks were seen. I spent a bit of time photographing the Linnets but every time they approached relatively close a dog walker or their dog would flush the flock again and I'd have to wait and see if they came back.

A drake Goldeneye was seen out on the river an hour or so later. Pied Wagtails and a Rock Pipit were noted along the strand line when I went for another look round towards the West Sands. With the tide on its way back out a small flock of Sanderling began feeding on the freshly exposed section of beach. Needless to say, within a minute a dog had flushed this flock again. A Buzzard was seen over Reres Wood and a little later a pair of Ravens. A trio of Common Gulls flew upriver. A flock of Knot along with a single Grey Plover were flushed by walkers on the north side of the bay and flew into Balgove Bay. A flock of Teal also flew past westwards upriver.

As I was heading back towards St Andrews I stopped to chat with a young Countryside Ranger and while we chatted I spotted a Shelduck heading north across the mouth of the river. Skylark and Stonechat were seen on the walk back before I encountered a very relaxed Rook perched on a fence near the coach parking area. I was able to stand just a couple of feet directly in front of it and take photos without it bothering in the slightest. After taking a few I left it in peace and moved on.

I then ended up helping a guy take some photos showing off his pal's clothing brand (he was trying to take them with a remote and asked if I could spare a couple of minutes to help him out) and he was quite pleased with the results before the battery died on his camera. There were many more birds out in the bay but they appeared to be Common Scoters with no obvious signs of anything else including the Surf Scoters. I debated catching a bus to Guardbridge but with the time now around 1530 there was little point as I would only have around 10 minutes before closing time by the time I managed to get there. Instead I decided to call it a day and headed for home.

Not the most successful outing with no sign of the Snow Bunting or even a White Tailed Eagle in the estuary. The photos of the Rook, Skylark and Surf Scoters were some consolation however. Only 41 species seen though given just how busy the beach was that wasn't all that bad a total.

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter

Surf Scoter & Common Scoter

Surf Scoter
Surf Scoter

Herring Gull

Woodpigeon

Pied Wagtail

Herring Gull


Herring Gull

Carrion Crow

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Stonechat

Linnet

Knot

Knot & Grey Plover

Linnet

Teal, Oystercatcher, Curlew & ?

Linnet

Linnet

Red Breasted Merganser

Red Breasted Merganser

Common Gull

Buzzard

Raven

Linnet

Long Tailed Duck

Linnet

Sanderling

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Skylark

Stonechat

Stonechat

Rook

Rook

Rook

Rook

Rook

Pied Wagtail

Common Scoter

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Fulmar, Goldeneye, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stonechat, Surf Scoter, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.